As expected, Shane
Carwin will be competing for Rizin Fighting Federation in the
near future, but it’s highly unlikely that his debut will come
against Fedor
Emelianenko.

The Japanese organization announced that Carwin will be the eighth
man in its open-weight Grand Prix tournament, which began with
first round bouts on Sept. 25 and continues on Dec. 29 at
Rizin 3 in Saitama, Japan. Carwin joins the bracket, which also
includes Mirko
Filipovic and Wanderlei
Silva, as a wild card entrant. His opponent has yet to be
determined.

The tournament will conclude with semifinal and championship bouts
at Rizin 4 on Dec. 31. Carwin recently hinted on Twitter that he
had signed with the promotion and
accepted a bout against Emelianenko. However, the Russian
pound-for-pound great is not part of the Grand Prix.

Carwin, 41, revealed that he was interested in returning to the UFC
in the summer after retiring from the sport in 2013. The former
interim heavyweight champion later confirmed that he and the Las
Vegas-based organization had parted ways, allowing him to pursue
other offers as a free agent.

An NCAA Division II national champion wrestler at Western State
University, Carwin rattled off 12 consecutive first-round finishes
to begin his MMA career — including four in the UFC. He captured
interim gold with a first-round knockout of Frank Mir at
UFC 111 and had then champion Brock
Lesnar reeling in the opening stanza at UFC 116 before
submitting to an arm-triangle choke in the second frame.